Bandar Jugra was the royal capital of Selangor when the then ruling monarch, Sultan Abdul Samad built Istana Jugra (Jugra Palace) and moved there in 1875. It was situated in a strategic location, not exactly at the river mouth but easily accessible from the Straits of Malacca, and protected by a hill, Bukit Jugra; which stands clearly out above the low-lying mangrove swamps. For centuries it served as a familiar landmark to navigators of the Straits of Malacca. Chinese, Arab and European mariners marked it in their charts; Bukit Jugra was also known to many foreign navigators as Parcelar Hill, derived from the Arabic name for it, balasar.

It was during this time that Bandar Jugra also briefly became the centre of British administration in Selangor, although this was soon moved to Klang, and a decade later to Kuala Lumpur. The Sultan continued to live at Jugra until he died in 1898, and the new Sultan, Sultan Alauddin Sulaiman Shah also known as Sultan Sulaiman was proclaimed there. This was the last important occasion in Jugra.

After that, Bandar Jugra quickly shrank to become a backwater, as even the local administration was shifted to the new centre of Banting and Sultan Sulaiman made his official residence at Klang.